


Daguerreotype

by ShiroRikiya



Series: Triptych [2]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Military, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-02
Updated: 2019-08-02
Packaged: 2020-07-29 05:48:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20077165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShiroRikiya/pseuds/ShiroRikiya
Summary: what if, what if, what if, what if, what if, what if, what if, what if





	Daguerreotype

**Author's Note:**

> So, I'm supposed to be writing another fic but guess what I did instead? Yep. I wrote this anyway :'D
> 
> Part 2 of In Shades of Light

He keeps on thinking of what-ifs.

What if he had not fucked up then? What if he had not been caught? What if they didn’t have to rescue him along with the civilian? What if he didn’t insist that he could fight and had instead helped with securing the hostage? What if he hadn’t accepted the bulletproof vest that Takao gave him? What if he had insisted that Takao wear it instead? What if he had not said that he could still fight? 

Would the vest save Takao Kazunari’s life? 

_Here, Kuro-chan. You wear this._

_what if, what if, what if, what if, what if, what if, what if, what if_

“Kuroko?” 

Tetsuya jerks slightly, Akashi’s familiar voice snapping him out from his thoughts. He turns and he sees Akashi looking at him with concern, gun held in his hand while everyone else is busy preparing around them. 

“Yes, Akashi-san?” Akashi’s brows furrow a bit, almost unnoticeable but Tetsuya notices. 

“Are you okay?” 

“Yes. I’m sorry, I was thinking.”

He’s slipping. 

He knows he’s slipping. His mind is not on the mission and that could end in casualties. But he’s trying. He’s really, really trying but he can’t stop thinking. 

_What if—_

“Stay focused, Kuroko. We can’t slip,” Akashi says, his eyes almost mournful. “I’ll be holding down the hallway and Daiki’s going to anchor the objective. What about you?”

Tetsuya looks around and sees everyone focused on their task, of Aomine reloading his gun and setting up a shield in the corner of the room. 

He needs to get his mind on the mission. 

He shakes his head mentally. 

“I’ll guard the skylight by the stairs.” 

Akashi nods and smiles but it doesn’t reach his eyes. 

Tetsuya remembers the first time he met Akashi Seijuurou. 

He was the newest operator to join and he was being shown around the base. After the tour, they told him that his mentor was going to be Akashi Seijuurou and he had been so surprised. 

Akashi Seijuurou, the legend. 

Amongst all of his accomplishments, one stood out to Tetsuya the most. The one where after Akashi Seijuurou had vanished for three years after stopping a terrorist attack that had saved millions of lives, he showed up along with more than enough intel to take down one of the largest terrorist organization in the world. 

Tetsuya had felt a little bit nervous. He admired Akashi Seijuurou and he didn’t know if he could measure up to Akashi Seijuurou’s standard. And there was also the fact that the organization where Tetsuya’s from and Akashi is from has bad blood between them. And yes, it’s true that that bad blood has already been put to rest and the relationship between the two organization have been on friendly terms in recent years but there were still fights happening sometimes. And Tetsuya preferred not to be hazed. 

But Akashi Seijuurou did nothing of the sort to him.

Instead, he smiled at Tetsuya and offered his hand as he introduced his self. 

_”Nice to meet you, Kuroko Tetsuya. My name’s Akashi Seijuurou. I look forward to working with you.”_

Akashi Seijuurou was a strict mentor. Strict but fair. He did his best to teach Tetsuya everything that he knew and in return he expected Tetsuya to perform his best. In Akashi, Tetsuya found a reliable mentor and an easy friendship. 

It was good. Being with Akashi was easy and felt natural. They got along and they could read each other well, which benefited them greatly in missions. It was nice, being like that with Akashi. 

And then Tetsuya just had to fall for Akashi. 

Or more like he just had to realize he had feelings for him when he could’ve gone on his life not knowing. 

_They were out drinking with the other operators. Kise was pretty much smashed and half of the party was as well while Akashi and Tetsuya, being the designated drivers, were sober, being entertained by the drunken shenanigans that everyone else were doing._

_Aomine Daiki, halfway to getting smashed, was on top of the table, singing a love song out loud to a passed out Kise._

_And Akashi was recording everything with his phone._

_Tetsuya was almost dying from holding back his self from laughing but Aomine was providing top tier quality entertainment he couldn’t stop himself anymore._

_Then he just had to turn to Akashi and see him smiling._

_And Akashi turns to him and smiles again, fondness in his eyes and Tetsuya’s heart races as he feels the cold realization that he was in love with Akashi Seijuurou._

_That night he barely slept a wink, his heart still racing and mind full of thoughts of fond crimson red eyes._

And now those very same crimson eyes were glassy, staring at the ceiling,

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no—“

Tetsuya crawls towards Akashi, through broken glass and shells of bullets and sees blood seeping through Akashi’s uniform. 

Akashi’s losing a lot of blood. 

“Hold on, hold on,” Tetsuya says as he grabs the radio. “Aomine-san! Akashi-san is badly wounded! We need evac asap!”

“Shit! Okay, I’ll make my way through you guys, hold on.”

He presses a hand to the wound, applying pressure to stop the blood but it only does so much. Akashi wheezes and he turns to see Akashi’s mouth moving as if he wants to say something. 

“No, no don’t try to talk. Just stay with me—“ 

Tetsuya hears shouts and footsteps coming near them and he picks his gun off the floor, killing three masked terrorists as they appeared in the hallway. 

He goes back to Akashi, immediately pressing again on the wound as he tries to not to think of how Akashi’s warm blood was coating his hand. 

“Tetsu, I’m almost there! Medic is on standby!” 

Akashi suddenly lifts a hand as if to reach out or point at something and ends up putting it on top of Tetsuya’s hand. Their eyes meet and there are tears on Akashi’s eyes and he’s smiling, looking like he’s at peace. As if he’s accepted his fate. 

“Tetsu…ya…”

Akashi squeezes his hand and it felt like goodbye. 

“No, no, no, no. Stay here. Don’t close your eyes.”

Akashi’s eyes close slowly and Tetsuya’s vision blurs. 

“No. Stay. Stay. Don’t go.”

Akashi’s hand on top of his goes limp and the tears start falling. 

“Seijuurou!” 

But Akashi Seijuurou doesn’t respond.


End file.
